slap
05-07-2008, 04:09 PM
What a finish to the season last night!
This is match play league, 2 games of doubles and 2 games of singles. Going in, we were in 1st place in doubles and I was in 3rd place in singles.
We start with doubles and I quickly realize that it's going to be a tough night. There must have been a birthday party of this pair earlier in the day. The pattern was broken down and very difficult to read. I found a decent line but it was speed sensitive. Game 1 I throw a 169 and lose by 4 pins. I try to make subtle adjustments and things just get worst, 137 in game 2. We spilt the set but still win the league by 1 point!
Whew I'm glad that's over, what pair am I on for singles? The same pair... :eek:
But I don't panic. Last week I decided I needed to improve my mental game so I starting reading the Sports Psychology Library Handbook for Bowling. I'm only half way into the book but I've already picked up some things. (I'll post a review when I finish it.) What helped me last night was to to respond to bad shots/games. Before the singles match started, sat alone for a couple of minutes. I told myself that doubles was over and that this was a fresh start. In my head I developed a new game plan.
It worked... 191 190 to sweep my set against the #4 bowler. The #1 bowler was totally frustrated by the lanes (we were on the game pair) and lost all his points. That allowed me to move in to 2nd!
The point to my story is work on your mental game! Earlier in the season I would have blown up like the first place bowler. I stayed calm and played the game one frame at a time.
This is match play league, 2 games of doubles and 2 games of singles. Going in, we were in 1st place in doubles and I was in 3rd place in singles.
We start with doubles and I quickly realize that it's going to be a tough night. There must have been a birthday party of this pair earlier in the day. The pattern was broken down and very difficult to read. I found a decent line but it was speed sensitive. Game 1 I throw a 169 and lose by 4 pins. I try to make subtle adjustments and things just get worst, 137 in game 2. We spilt the set but still win the league by 1 point!
Whew I'm glad that's over, what pair am I on for singles? The same pair... :eek:
But I don't panic. Last week I decided I needed to improve my mental game so I starting reading the Sports Psychology Library Handbook for Bowling. I'm only half way into the book but I've already picked up some things. (I'll post a review when I finish it.) What helped me last night was to to respond to bad shots/games. Before the singles match started, sat alone for a couple of minutes. I told myself that doubles was over and that this was a fresh start. In my head I developed a new game plan.
It worked... 191 190 to sweep my set against the #4 bowler. The #1 bowler was totally frustrated by the lanes (we were on the game pair) and lost all his points. That allowed me to move in to 2nd!
The point to my story is work on your mental game! Earlier in the season I would have blown up like the first place bowler. I stayed calm and played the game one frame at a time.